COLUMBIA, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh has reached an agreement in a lawsuit filed by the family of Mallory Beach, a teenager who lost her life in a boating accident connected to Murdaugh’s youngest son. Prosecutors allege this incident may have been a significant catalyst for the subsequent murders of Murdaugh’s wife and son.
The settlement involves a payment from the insurer amounting to $500,000 on a policy Murdaugh held for the boat, which resolves the wrongful death case. This lawsuit was instrumental in unveiling Murdaugh’s financial misconduct, revealing that he allegedly embezzled millions from both his law clients and his law firm.
Mallory Beach’s family initiated legal action against Murdaugh’s family, among others, following an incident where Paul Murdaugh was driving the boat that collided with a bridge in Beaufort County in February 2019. This tragic accident resulted in Beach’s death and left several passengers injured.
Paul Murdaugh, the 19-year-old at the helm during the crash, faced felony charges for boating while under the influence, as it was found he had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit at over 0.28%.
Prior settlements have netted Beach’s family over $15 million from various sources, including agreement settlements with the Parker’s Kitchen convenience store chain, a family that hosted an oyster roast, a bar that served alcohol to Paul Murdaugh shortly before the accident, and his brother Buster, who provided identification for the purchase of alcohol.
A complication arose with the boat’s insurer, Progressive, which delayed the settlement process, insisting that Alex Murdaugh be removed as a defendant in the Beach family’s lawsuit before finalizing any payments. Following the involvement of special receivers who ensured that all of Murdaugh’s assets were accounted for and paid out, the Beach family agreed to resolve the matter, leading Judge Daniel Hall to issue an order confirming the $500,000 payment on Monday.
Records indicate that other injured passengers from the boating incident have resolved their lawsuits against Murdaugh and other parties involved. Alex Murdaugh, now 56, is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at their Colleton County residence. He has maintained his innocence and is appealing these murder convictions.
Despite the ongoing appeals, Murdaugh’s legal troubles are far from over. He has acknowledged pilfering approximately $12 million from clients and his firm, funds that included money meant for a quadriplegic client and a trust for children whose parents died in car accidents. This financial fraud has resulted in a 40-year federal prison sentence for him.
Prosecutors revealed that shortly before the deaths of his family, Murdaugh was preoccupied with preparing a financial document that was likely to be scrutinized at an imminent court hearing regarding the Beach lawsuit. They posited that Murdaugh was anxious that a review of his financial practices would foray into evidence of theft amounting to millions, prompting a chilling plan to murder his family in order to buy time and disrupt the wrongful death proceedings.
Referred to as the “Boat Case” in true crime discussions, this lawsuit highlighted not only Murdaugh’s family’s historical dominance within Hampton County’s legal environment but also the fractures within their long-standing grip on the area.
Witnesses at the hospital insisted that after the crash, both Paul Murdaugh and his father seemed to attempt to speak privately with injured teenagers, raising suspicions that they were attempting to imply the driver of the boat was someone other than Paul.
At Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, attorney Mark Tinsley indicated he initially sought $10 million from Murdaugh, but the defense claimed he was out of funds and could only offer $1 million. Tinsley was dubious of this financial predicament given Murdaugh’s previously displayed affluence, requesting comprehensive financial records in preparation for the now-delayed lawsuit hearing that would have followed shortly after the tragic shooting.
Authorities have described the brutal manner in which Alex Murdaugh murdered his son, with two shotgun blasts, followed by multiple shots fired at his wife with a rifle in an execution-style killing outside of their home. Murdaugh later claimed he called 911 upon discovering their bodies after a brief visit to care for his sick mother. He subsequently expressed to arriving investigators that he speculated whether tensions surrounding his son’s boating accident could have played a role in the horrific events.